Jo Jackson Recovering from Car Accident

LONDON, July 5. DOUBLE Commonwealth Games silver medalist Jo Jackson has had her season thrown into doubt after she was involved in a car accident while already recovering from a back injury. The 19-year-old Durham Aquatics swimmer was forced to pull out of last month's Mare Nostrum tour with a back complaint and then injured herself when her car was in collision with another vehicle.

"I had a swollen disc at the base of my back which was catching on a nerve," said Jackson. "It forced me to pull out of the Mare Nostrum as I needed to rest until it healed. I'd only been back in the water a week, things were going well and then I had a pretty major car crash which left me with a damaged sternum, ribs and clavicle. That was 10 days ago and I'm trying to get fit again now."

The teenager, who won silver in the 400 freestyle and 800 freetyle relay in Melbourne, has remained positive throughout the traumas of the past month and still has hopes of making it to the European Championships at the end of this month.

"I have to think how lucky I am if I'm honest," said Jackson. "There's no doubt it could have been a lot worse, the pain caused by the injuries wasn't as bad as I expected but it has held back my swimming."

Jackson is now back in the water but has less than a month to go before her major meet of the long course season.

"All in all I've missed a month's worth of vital preparation in the run-up to this month's European Championships in Budapest," said Jackson. "I've been working hard with my coach Dave McNulty and I'm trying to remain upbeat about it all. We're just going to have to see what happens, I'll always give it my best no matter how I'm feeling."

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